The present invention relates to a garment hanger information tab for use on a garment hanger having a tab holder, and more particular to such a tab which has a proper side-to-side orientation and an improper side-to-side orientation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,096,101 discloses a garment hanger information tab for use on a garment hanger having a tab holder including a ledge. The tab defines a generally U-shaped body having a top wall, first and second sides, and first and second legs disposed between the sides and defining a slot and an internal chamber therebetween. The body has first and second internal fingers extending inwardly from respective legs in the channel, the first and second fingers extending under the ledge of the tab holder to lock the body on the tab holder when the body is on the tab holder. The illustrated tab holder is structurally bilaterally symmetrical about two mutually perpendicular planes, both of the planes being non-parallel (and in fact perpendicular) to the top wall. Thus the tab is rapidly and easily grasped and attached to the garment hanger without regard to the side-to-side orientation in which it will be placed thereon.
The tabs are intended to convey information to a potential customer and typically include information regarding the clothing on the garment hanger, most typically its size --e.g., S or small, M or medium, L or large, or size numbers. Where the single letter "S" is used on the tab, when the S is readable in one side-to-side orientation of the tab, it is equally readable in the opposite side-to-side orientation. However, this does not apply to the letters "M" or "L" and certainly not to the words "small," "medium," or "large," or to size numbers. Due to the space limitation on the tab, the words typically do not extend horizontally (that is, left end to right end) but rather vertically (that is, from top side to bottom side where the top is one side and the bottom is the opposite side). Such tabs generally operate satisfactorily for their intended use once they have been properly inserted on the hanger.
However, it is frequently the case that tabs are applied to hangers in the wrong side-to-side orientation so that the information printed on the tab cannot be properly read. While this presents only a minor problem which the well-motivated customer can overcome in most instances, in other instances--such as where the indicated size is a "6" or "9"--a major problem may result. Further, if the tab is to be applied by automated machinery, which selects a tab from a storage pool of randomly oriented tabs for the same size, the low-level inexpensive equipment preferably used for such a task cannot recognize or "read" words or numbers written on the tab and therefore will be unable to appropriately orient the tab on the hanger. Because of this problem, the tabs are typically applied manually, at a much greater cost. However, even with manual placement of the tabs they often end up in the wrong orientation.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a garment hanger information tab wherein the opposite side-to-side orientations of the tab may be distinguished.
Another object is to provide such a tab which will seat on the tab holder only in a predetermined side-to-side orientation.
A further object is to provide such a tab which is inexpensive to manufacture and use.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide in combination such a tab and a hanger.